USA TODAY Sports has confirmed that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be in Arizona Monday afternoon to announce that the Phoenix Coyotes have tentatively been sold after two seasons of league ownership.

Although the ownership group hasn't been confirmed, the leading candidate had been a group led by former San Jose Sharks chief executive officer Greg Jamison.

I heard on NHL Home Ice that the main remaining hurdle is negotiation of a new lease with the City of Glendale for the Jobing.com Arena. But it's now sounding like Quebec will have to wait.

Good for them. That franchise is finally getting a taste of success, so maybe they can grow the sport out there now. I'm sure this playoff run has helped immensley from that perspective. Glad they get to keep their team.

What MD2020 said - I think it's pretty rotten for the City of Glendale, but if they can finally get some stability, maybe the fanbase will come. It's not like any of the other 4 major sports teams are doing that well in Phoenix.

Can you imagine that...1 team that has been owned by the league for the last 2+ years and the other that is supposed to declare bankruptcy at the end of the season (at least according to the ever reliable NY Post).

I hope the sale goes through and the Coyotes stay in Phoenix. However, if that happens, it puts the pressure even more on Nassau County officials to get an arena deal done for the Islanders with Quebec building their arena and the Yotes out of the running to relocate there.

I wonder what sweetheart deal Jamison's group is going to get? I still won't believe anything about the team staying there until the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. This whole fiasco has been such a mess I can still see this falling through. Coyotes fans should be happy though, the NHL jumped through hoops to keep the team there.

If this goes through I feel bad for Quebec fans. They've been waiting patiently for years, just broke ground on a new arena, doing the renovations on the Colisee, and they still may not have a team. While I am against expansion, I think the NHL talent pool is too thin to support 32 teams, I can see it happening under Bettman. Getting say Quebec City and Seattle to pay the huge expansion fee would be popular amongst NHL owners. Plus it would fit into the whole 4 conference realignment thing that was talked about.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

I wonder what sweetheart deal Jamison's group is going to get? I still won't believe anything about the team staying there until the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. This whole fiasco has been such a mess I can still see this falling through. Coyotes fans should be happy though, the NHL jumped through hoops to keep the team there.

If this goes through I feel bad for Quebec fans. They've been waiting patiently for years, just broke ground on a new arena, doing the renovations on the Colisee, and they still may not have a team. While I am against expansion, I think the NHL talent pool is too thin to support 32 teams, I can see it happening under Bettman. Getting say Quebec City and Seattle to pay the huge expansion fee would be popular amongst NHL owners. Plus it would fit into the whole 4 conference realignment thing that was talked about.

The NHL got a giant relocation fee when the Thrashers went to Winnipeg. I don't think this is a concern. The league still has the Panthers and Islanders on life support, and Columbus isn't doing well either - I don't think this league lacks for movable franchises. The danger with expansion, as the league found out, is that if some of your franchises are already on shaky ground, and the best available markets are taken, it means having to eat a franchise for years until a suitable location or buyer is found.

I've been waiting for them to run an episode of Monday Night Raw from the "Jobing" dot com arena...

this kinda sucks for Quebec, instead of a talented young team moving there it looks like there just gonna get the islanders.

But, at least in Quebec Tavares will get the attention he warrants. Few more early draft picks and they could have a good team on their hands. Now, if they could just get DiPietro to retire the day after the move is announced. In all seriousness, I would hate to see the Isles leave the area. Love the rivalry.

Well Greg Jamison was unable to raise the capital necessary to buy the team while keeping the sweetheart deal he got from the City of Glendale. It's important to note that the new mayor and town council aren't as big in supporting the Coyotes staying in Glendale at all cost to the city. While this saga will definitely have more twists and turns, I think the NHL may start looking towards relocation investers in Quebec or Seattle. Sure a buyer could emerge to keep the team in Glendale but there isn't a great chance that the City will be as co-operative in an arena management deal this time.

Former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison, the main suitor for the Phoenix Coyotes for the past year, cannot produce the capital needed to purchase the team from the NHL and as a result a Jan. 31 deadline to maintain a critical lease agreement with the City of Glendale will pass without a deal being completed, multiple sources have told ESPN.com.

It's believed that Mayor Jerry Weiers, who took office after the lease agreement was passed by the previous council, would be agreeable to discussing keeping the team in Glendale with this new group, although it's believed he will want to rework the deal to make it more beneficial for the city.

Under the current lease agreement, the team's owners would receive some $308 million over the life of the 20-year deal to manage the property, an average of slightly more than $15 million annually in management fees.

It is almost certain that when Thursday's deadline passes, Jamison's role in any purchase agreement with the league or lease agreement with the City of Glendale will be at an end.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

This is finally winding down, though dirtbag gary will likely have to prop up one more clown/phantom group (hey we have group x interested in he coyotes..don't lose hope!) just to keep the fan interest high enough to where they think there's a chance the team might stick around. But it's over, they'll be out of there by the end of the season thankfully.

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^7^ is just defending his sport sheeps.. as Alcibiades the exiled Athenian rationalizes in his speech to the enemy Spartans, he wants to take revenge on Athens because he loves it and can't stand to see the state it's in now - Triumph

Count me in as someone who believes this "new group" that wants to keep the team there is a phantom group. This story has had a lot of surprises but I just don't see how it works out now. Especially with Quebec sitting with a NHL capable arena and a new arena coming in the next few years and with the Seattle arena looking very promising. I bet the NHL tries to create the image that the team is staying there and as soon as their season ends, they book it out of there.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

I can't imagine that paying $300M to whoever owns the Coyotes is better than just leaving the arena dark for 45 nights a year + whatever playoff games there would be.

I can't imagine subsidizing the Coyotes to the tune of $25M a year was a great idea either, but apparently Jobing.com doesn't do alot of bookings. That's why they keep chasing the Coyotes, to justify the existence of the arena. Otherwise it would just be like Atlanta Spirit, where they basically told the team to get the hell out, the Coyotes would be in Winnipeg, and god knows where Atlanta would be playing.

I can't imagine subsidizing the Coyotes to the tune of $25M a year was a great idea either, but apparently Jobing.com doesn't do alot of bookings. That's why they keep chasing the Coyotes, to justify the existence of the arena. Otherwise it would just be like Atlanta Spirit, where they basically told the team to get the hell out, the Coyotes would be in Winnipeg, and god knows where Atlanta would be playing.

At this point you just have to cut your losses, no? The city is already headed for certain bankruptcy whether the team stays or goes.